First year ups n downs n all arounds!!

My boys first few days seemed like a blur. It went from one spit up to a full on aspiration. He turned blue a few times and we ended up at children's hospital. After many tests and weeks of trial and error it was determined he had GERD (reflux of acid and stomach contents that either comes all the way up or sits eroding tissue or enters lungs) the GERD complicated by a mild tracheomalacia (soft cartilage would collapse wind pipe) was to blame for the aspiration, which caused his blue spells. After this was all discovered it made more sense and we hoped and prayed for the trachea to heal itself to avoid a procedure to fix it.

A few days at home and my baby would just squeak like a lil seal when he ate and breathed to deeply. It was so scary and just different for me. I was on constant worry mode. Sleep was not even a need or want at this point. I would stay up all night just watching him.

By the time he was six wks old he had been weaned from breast milk because I was told he had MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance) I then had three formula changes and ended up sticking with a hypoallergenic one that smelled horrible! At this time we started PPI treatment because the regular GERD stuff was not working. I did some research and found a great pedi gastro dr and he agreed that we needed to try a PPI and combine it with mylanta and Zantac. This combo seemed to work. We stuck with it and increased when needed. He was doing ok but still having major sleep issues. It reminded me of the moments in the womb, he was always in a state of movement!! When he would doze off he would twitch and roll around a lot. I brought this up to the dr and no one seemed to think it was a big deal, but boy was I tired!! My hubby and I pulled shifts trying to get a few hrs of sleep. I tried every thing from special blankets, clothes, and reflux sheets with Velcro straps to hold him in place (dubbed the baby straight jacket by my older kids).

By 6 mo he seemed to be doing so much better. The trachea grew strong and spit up was less. He was still grumpy and not sleeping at night, but I was getting USED to his temperament and I learned his cries like a baby whisperer!

At 8 mo he had an endoscope and allergy testing. Scope showed white spots that indicate scarring from the acid. I was so sad. The allergy test showed Milk as his highest allergey and others were mild enough that I got the ok to try foods. This was hell, he couldnt tolerate much. Most purees caused flare up and gas. We stuck to the few he could handle.

This is when it hit me that how can a baby learn if he is in so much pain? All the crying and fussiness were really warranted. No wonder he was by this time DELAYED on every chart.

By one yr he still wasn't cooing. He didn't wave, smiles were few, he rarely made eye contact, and he didn't like to cuddle at all. That was the hardest, I would hold him close and he would arch away. I avoided his 12 mo check because I knew he was really behind and I just felt like it had to be my fault and I was embarrassed. (terrible I know!!)

He had an awesome party and his second year started, boy does time fly!

One of my favorite pics!!!  A smile and he looked at the camera.

Jojo at his first birthday!!